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EPA To Issue Long Overdue Standards for Oil & Gas Facilities

July 20, 2011

Two and a half years after being sued, EPA is under a twice-extended court deadline to release by July 28, 2011, proposed standards addressing toxic emissions from oil and gas facilities. The court has ordered that standards be finalized by Feb. 28, 2012.

The proposed standards will address air toxics from oil production facilities and natural gas production, processing, transmission, and storage facilities. The regulatory mechanisms through which EPA is developing these standards include new source performance standards, national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants, and control techniques.

The new standards will replace and expand upon those developed in 1999 and 1985. Many emission pathways now known to be significant weren't even covered then. The standards are supposed to be updated every 8 years, but EPA's failure to do so sparked WildEarth Guardians and San Juan Citizens Alliance to sue.